Upright vacuum cleaners employ a variety of dirt separators to remove dirt and debris from a working air stream. Some dirt separators use one or more frusto-conical-shaped separator(s) and others use high-speed rotational motion of the air/dirt to separate the dirt by centrifugal force. Typically, working air enters and exits at an upper portion of the dirt separator as the bottom portion of the dirt separator is used to collect debris. Before exiting the dirt separator, the working air may flow through an exhaust grill. The exhaust grill can have perforations, holes, vanes, or louvers defining openings through which air may pass.